Songkhram ricefish

Oryzias songkhramensis

Also known as Songkhramensis medaka

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 72–79°F (22–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 1 in (2.5 cm)
Minimum tank: 11 gal (40 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Songkhram basin, northeast Thailand
Family: Adrianichthyidae

Overview

The Songkhram ricefish is a recently described micro-medaka, a peaceful shoaling fish small enough to keep as a colony in a nano tank. Keep it in a group of at least six, and it does best as a larger colony among plants where it feels safe. It is community safe but tiny, so pair it only with equally small, gentle fish or keep it in a species tank. Give it calm, planted water and a covered surface. Feed small foods: powdered flake, microworm, frozen cyclops, and baby brine shrimp. A gently filtered tank of around 40 liters with dense fine planting houses a breeding group well.

In the wild

Oryzias songkhramensis comes from the Songkhram basin and nearby Mekong waters of northeast Thailand and central Laos, living in still, plant-filled floodplain pools that swell and shrink with the seasons. Recreate that with a heavily planted, calm tank and soft water. It suits warm, soft to neutral conditions, about 22 to 26 C at roughly pH 6.0 to 7.5, with gentle filtration and little current.

Good to know

Oryzias songkhramensis is a ricefish of the family Adrianichthyidae, reaching only about 2.5 centimeters, and it was described as recently as 2010 from the Songkhram and Mekong basins. Like the other medakas the female carries her fertilized eggs at the vent before fixing them among fine plants, and it breeds at a medium level of difficulty given a quiet, densely planted tank.

Did you know

The Songkhram is one of the Mekong's great flood-pulse rivers, spreading each wet season into a vast seasonal wetland and then drawing back. This ricefish lives its whole life on that yearly rhythm of flood and retreat.